LYNDAL CURTIS: If we can start first with the leaks, you've said you can't control the leaks, you don't know who's doing it. You must be worried it's going to happen again.

WAYNE SWAN: Well Lyndal stories like this surface from time to time, they surface on both sides of politics. I'm not going to go into speculation about where they might come from.

I was speaking about this last night and I made the very obvious point that frequently when you're dealing with stories like this the obvious source is not where it came from.

LYNDAL CURTIS: Do you have a message though for the leaker?

WAYNE SWAN: I don't have any message about, ah, about these stories. The message I have is a very good story to tell to the Australian people about our stewardship of the economy over the past two and a half years.

The fact that we avoided recession, the fact that inflation is moderating, the fact that we have created 350,000 jobs in the past year alone and the fact that we're coming back to surplus three years early.

That's a very good story and when I'm out and about in the community Lyndal that's what people want to talk about. They want to talk about health and education, they want to talk about strong economic management and they want to talk about the future, what we're going to do to maximise the opportunities that will flow from mining boom mark two.

LYNDAL CURTIS: But some of your colleagues believe that the leaks are coming either from Kevin Rudd or people close to him. Do you have some sympathy for him?

WAYNE SWAN: I think Kevin is an honourable person; he's made a very significant contribution to political and the public policy in this country. He's out there campaigning in his electorate, that's what local members do. That will always attract a degree of attention.

But what we're doing is getting on with the job of talking to the Australian people about what we will do to broaden and strengthen our economy.

And to contrast that with Mr Abbott who is total policy chaos. On the day he said he was cutting company taxes he failed to admit that he's actually increasing company taxes, proving that company taxation will be higher under the Liberals than under Labor.

LYNDAL CURTIS: You say you want to get on with talking about the future, but the ousting of Mr Rudd is still having an impact. Some MP's say the way the deed was done, the fact that he was knifed, is a factor in Queensland.

Have you done enough to explain to people why Kevin Rudd needed to go?

WAYNE SWAN: Well these decisions are always difficult and the community will certainly have a view about them, but the very contest in this campaign is between Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Opposition Leader Tony Abbott.

LYNDAL CURTIS: But do you think people, particularly in Queensland, are looking for a fuller explanation of why Kevin Rudd had to be toppled and have you provided that?

WAYNE SWAN: Well Lyndal as I move around the community this topic is not being raised with me and I have moved extensively around the Queensland community over the past couple of weeks.

I've just come from working my way through Mackay, Cairns onto Darwin and Perth and I'm not having it raised with me on the ground at all.

LYNDAL CURTIS: So you don't think it's an issue at all?

WAYNE SWAN: I think people will be discussing it, I think it is entirely legitimate and appropriate that people do but of course what we are doing in this election campaign is putting forward a program for the future.

Under our very strong leader Julia Gillard and there's a very stark contrast with Tony Abbott.

The Liberals have got all the big economic pulls wrong in the past two and a half years and they're getting them wrong into the future, as demonstrated by this policy chaos over whether they're cutting or lifting tax at the same time.

I mean it is just incredible that a modern political party could walk out one day and say it was cutting company tax by 1.5 (per cent) when at the same time it intends to increase it by 1.7 (per cent).

LYNDAL CURTIS: You had some good news yesterday with inflation not rising as much as expected, but isn't that also a sign along with the Reserve Bank saying the signs of the handover to private sector demand are tentative, that the economy may not be picking up as well as you would have expected?

WAYNE SWAN: Oh no I think it's a good sign that underlying inflation is moderating. There are still price pressures out there in our community and we have to deal with those with a forward looking agenda and the Government has...

LYNDAL CURTIS: So you're no worried that, you're not worried that the economy is not picking up as much as you would have hoped?

WAYNE SWAN: Well I think that we do have a two speed economy. We are growing and we are growing in a healthy way.

We have had very strong job creation, 350,000 jobs in the past year, unemployment is low at 5.1 (per cent) and forecast to go lower.

I'd contrast that with the fact that if the Liberals had been in power we would have went into recession, unemployment would have been far higher, deficits would have been far higher and debt would have been far higher.

So we've avoided recession, so as we go forward we are not like many other advanced countries walking through the rubble and destruction of a recession. The capital destruction that comes with it and the skills destruction.

That is a major advantage of Australia as we go forward to maximise the opportunities which will come from strong growth in our region in the years ahead.

LYNDAL CURTIS: So is a two speed economy actually a good thing?

WAYNE SWAN: Well there's a two speed economy out there, not everybody is going at the same pace, that's why we want to cut company taxation. That's why we want to give a very significant tax cut to small business through our $5,000 instant asset write off. That's why we want to bring the company tax rate down to 29 (per cent) and do it a year earlier for small business.

Contrast that with the conservatives. They claimed yesterday they were going to cut company tax by 1.5 (per cent) but didn't say that they're putting it up by 1.7 (per cent) on the same companies at the same time. That is policy chaos and they have not submitted any of their policies to the treasury and finance process.

Time is up for Mr Hockey and Mr Robb to put their proposals in to see them fully costed and to see whether they're fully funded.

LYNDAL CURTIS: Is the surplus a given or do you as Joe Hockey says have a note for him saying, 'There's nothing left' if he gets into government?

WAYNE SWAN: Look this is the constant campaign that Mr Hockey has run against the Treasury and its forecasts. The advisors that we have are the Federal Treasury, they are highly credible, they are highly respected and we have put forward a plan for fiscal consolidation which is the envy of the western world.

When I was at the G20 advanced economies were talking about halving their deficits by 2013. We're bringing ours back to surplus by 2013 and we're doing it by expenditure restraint and we're doing it in a responsible way.

Mr Hockey in contrast has no fully funded or costed plans at all.

LYNDAL CURTIS: What's the next big economic reform for you?

WAYNE SWAN: Well the next economic reforms are the reforms we're putting forward in this campaign.

To bring down company taxation, to give a very significant tax boost to small business, particularly those unincorporated small businesses who miss out under Mr Hockey, 1.7 million of them will get a very significant boost, a very significant boost by our instant tax write off, the $5,000 write off.

That is very important. What we're talking about is...

LYNDAL CURTIS: But do you have an agenda, do you have an agenda beyond that?

WAYNE SWAN: Yes we do. Well we have a very big agenda when it comes to infrastructure because what the previous government didn't do was invest in infrastructure.

They put in place capacity constraints which do put upward pressure on inflation and rates, we're dealing with that. We're dealing with that through our infrastructure fund, we're dealing with it in terms of skills and education, making investment there.

And we're boosting superannuation; the boost to superannuation will not only boost national savings but give dignity to people in their retirement. If you're a 30-year-old today, through our proposals on superannuation you will have an extra $100,000 when you retire.

Images

Click an image to enlarge

From the Archives

Around 500 Indigenous people fought in the First World War, and as many as 5,000 in the second. But many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander diggers who made it home received little or no recognition for their contribution. On Anzac Day, 2007, the first parade to commemorate their efforts and bravery was held in Sydney. Listen to our report from that day by Lindy Kerin.